A.Word.A.Day

AWADmail Issue 478

A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
and Other Tidbits about Words and Language

Trying to squeeze in one last Email of the Week winner before the storm hits - Candy (see below), who will - hopefully - stay high and dry wearing her back-to-basics, no-frills
Old's Cool Uppityshirt. Goodnight Irene!

From: LukeJavan8 (via Wordsmith Talk bulletin board)
Subject: parvenu
Def: One who has newly acquired wealth or status, but has not yet gained acceptance by others in that class.

After 1960, Omaha city experienced rapid growth. Once known for the world's
largest stockyards, they were closed, as meat was processed more and more
where the cattle were. People moved out in droves to suburbs, and many
people became the "newly rich". Yet the rich here for generations were
less inclined to accept them on equal terms. The area of the city where
I live was a cornfield when I was in high school, and it rapidly became
the center of the city, which has since moved farther west by miles. I
remember many discussions and newspaper articles about this so it is very
interesting to me.

The text of the verse in Isaiah 7:14 is commonly mistranslated as "A virgin
shall conceive and ..." The original Hebrew rendered as "virgin" actually
means "young woman of marriageable age but not yet married", without reference
to her virginity (or otherwise).

The mistranslation is usually attributed to the lack of a suitable word in
Greek/Latin and hence into English.

There was this young girl in Beverly Hills telling a friend about a family
that was really penurious:

They were so poor,
Their chauffeur was poor
Their maid was poor
Their cook was poor
Everyone was poor!

Rudy Rosenberg Sr., Westbury, New York

From: Susan Blake (myblakesregistry gmail.com)
Subject: Thank you

When my son was in school (1980s) I would have him do dictionary work
(Webster's Unabridged) after homework. Pick three words at random, read and
write out the descriptions, phonetics, all of it... then three more chosen
from each of the first three. He has a wonderful vocabulary, and knows how
to use it. When A.Word.A.Day appeared on my computer, I immediately sent the
link to my son for his two boys to start using (8 and 5), never too young to
start! Grazie mille!

And a silly sort of made up word can be very effective, ie: Warmderful, the
knitted garments made of donated yarn for the less fortunate in life.

Susan Blake, Napa, California

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education --
sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street. -E.B. White,
writer (1899-1985)